Posted on 03/20/2002 10:56:39 AM PST by Nachum
WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. forces discovered a handheld satellite-navigation device marked with the name "G. Gordon" in an abandoned al Qaida cave complex Monday near Gardez, and Pentagon officials said the GPS receiver may have been the property of an American Special Forces soldier killed in Somalia in 1993.
The Pentagon notified the family of Medal of Honor winner Army Master Sgt. Gary Gordon. Gordon was one of 18 soldiers who died Oct. 3, 1993, in Mogadishu. He was protecting the crew of a downed helicopter before running out of ammunition and being shot to death. His body was recovered.
"We think it originated from Somalia," said Joint Staff spokesman Brig. Gen. John Rosa.
However, he said it also may have been stolen and sold on the black market.
The Pentagon has contacted the manufacturer of the Global Positioning System receiver to trace its serial number to determine its provenance.
The decade-old GPS receiver, larger and heavier than present versions, was commercially available in 1993. It was found in a military pouch also marked with the name G. Gordon.
U.S. forces use more sophisticated receivers to not only pinpoint their positions but to direct aircraft toward bombing targets. As al Qaida and Taliban have no aircraft at their command, they would use the device to establish their location and elevation, information that could be passed by radio to other pockets of fighters, Rosa said.
"It would help in command and control," he said.
The device was working when it was discovered.
Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. commander of the war in Afghanistan, told the British Broadcasting Corp. by phone from Ethiopia March 17 he believed al Qaida has been operating in Somalia.
"We have known of links to al Qaida in and through Somalia for a considerable period of time," he said. "Locations and specifics is something that I cannot go into. But we are concerned about the situation in Somalia and we will not take off the table the possibility of action against countries of concern."
In January, Somali warlord Hussein Mohamed Aidid told reporters in Ethiopia at least four al Qaida members had arrived in Somalia -- Sheikh Abdurahman Jhalid Zubeir from Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdellah al Mahdi from Yemen, and Sheikh Abdelmejid and Sheikh Zeit Abu Mussa from Egypt.
U.S. intelligence officials believe top al Qaida operatives including Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al Zawahiri, trained Somali fighters at camps.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
You are not a winner of the medal of honor, you are honored with it.
Good point. This shows the depth of misunderstanding of matters military at UPI and the other media sources.
Or both.
I'm not sure the Al Qaeda 'sightings' are designed to foment ill will toward -- or garner support for an invasion of -- any one country.
Remember, we've already had reports of as many as 20 Al Qaeda cells operating here in the US. Does that mean we're getting ready to invade Tampa? No, it means that Al Qaeda truly is like an octopus with its ugly tentacles reaching everywhere. If the reports are designed for anything, it's to remind us how pervasive and elusive our enemy is, and to bolster support for a protracted search and destroy effort.
Never forget, nearly 3000 lives were snuffed out by Bin Laden and Al Qaeda on 9/11, and hundreds more had died prior to then as a direct result of OBL/AQ actions. America is tired of turning the other cheek, and is now cleaning out the snake-pit.
Perhaps not but I wouldn't mind seeing DeToilet (Detroit) get a little action ;-)
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